Insulating-chain for pull-switches.



H. HUB'BELL.

INSULATING GHAIN FOR PULL SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17, 1909.

946,779. Patented J an18,1910.

wrmfissis: INVENTOR 111a? v I 3mg 9 a;

' To allavhom it may mam.

HARVEY HUBBEL'L, or nnrnenroarr, CONNECTICUT.

msuLa'rme-cnnn For. ruLL-swI'reHEs;

Applicatien filed May 17, 1909; Seripl No. 496,623.

Be it known that'l, HARVEY HUBBELL, a citizen of the United, States, residing at Bridgeport, county of F airfield, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvementinv Insulating-Chains for" Pull-Switches, of

' which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an insulating chain for use upon pull switches or wherever it is required to insulate a' chain in electrical fixtures.

. It Is of course well understood that pull 1 switches are ordinarily operated by means of chains comprised of a serles of hollow metal balls loosely connected together by short bars having heads lying within I the balls. These chains in use are not always perfectly insulated from the switches, the result of which. is that a person operating a switch by means of a chain of this character not infrequently receives more or less of a shock.

.My present device provides in the chain itself an insulating'device which will effectuaily protect the user in operating a switch even should short circuiting occur in the switch, the requirements bein'gthat the-device be simple and inexpensive to produce and attach so as not to add appreciably to .the cost of the chain, that it be'efiective and that it be compact and so constructed as to avoid unsightiiness of appearance.

With these and other objects in view I have devised the simple and novel insulating device for metallic chains which I will now describe, referring to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and using reference characters to indicatethe several parts.

Figure 1-is an elevation on an enlarged scale, illustrating the application of my novel insulating device to the form of chain ordinarilyused in switches; Fi 2 a detail longitudinal section on a still l arger scale; and Fig. 3 is a section on the same scale on the line 38 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows:

10 denotes the chain as a whole, which consists of hollow metallic balls indicated by 11 connected together by short bars '12 passing through holes 18 inthe balls and having heads 13 lying within the balls whereby the balls are securely connected tegather, leaving the chain ulfic'iently flexible te meet all the requirements of use.

My novel insulating device comprises a rod or pencil 14.- made of suitable insulating material as vulcanized fiber and having at its ends metallic caps 15. These caps are drawn from disks ofsheet metal, each cap being provided with; an opening in itsiip large enough for one of the heads 13 to be passed through, the metal of the cap being then closed about the head leaving an opening 16 in which the bar 12 lies. The attachment of the bars to the caps is the same as the'attachment shown of the bars to the balls; that is, the heads upon the'bars are passed into the balls and caps and then the metal of the balls and caps is closed about the heads leaving the bars lying in the openings at the ends of the balls and caps.

The special mode of construction of the chain, however, is wholly immaterial so far as the present invention is concerned. The caps are placed over the ends of the insulating rods 14 and are rigidly secured to the rods in any suitable manner as by strik ing in lugs 17 of the metal of the caps into engagement with the material of the rods, thereby locking the caps rigidly in place on the rods.

Having thus described my inventidn I claim z- I 1. A chain of the character described provided with link bars having enlarged ends, an insulating rod, and caps secured to, each end of said insulating rod and each provided with an opening through which one of said link bars is passed. the enlarged end of each link bar being interposed between one end of said insulating rod and the wall of said cap.

2. A chain of the character described provided with link bars having enlargedl ends, an insulating rod, and caps embracing the endsof said rod, said caps being provided with lugs engaging said rod, each of said caps being provided with an opening through which one of said link bars ispassed, the enlarged end of each link bar being interposed between one end of said insulating rod and the wall of said cap.

In testimonv whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARVEY HUBBELL.

Witnesses A. M. Woos'rnR, S; W. ATnnR'roN.

, Specification of Letters Patent; Pate ted Jan. 18,1910. I 

